outunderthestars
Banned
Not interested. Would rather buy an X51
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Kotaku: Meet Ouya, A New $99 Console That's Not The X360, PS3, Wii
- Thread starter pramath
- Start date
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Wouldn't someone who wanted a low cost, hackable, XBMC box buy a Raspberry Pi right now?
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
False. Not everyone can attract the same attention but it's often up to developers and their product as runaway hits like Minecraft occasionally prove in spectacular fashion (and of course tons of lesser success stories behind them, not that anyone says no to the additional revenue Steam's hype can bring so they still get on there a lot of the time). Not everyone considers Android lucrative as yourself either obviously, or iOS so bad. Maybe this "our way is the only way" approach we see from big publishers isn't the best way to promote your views. Just say what works for you if you want and leave it at that without such crazy generalizations.
dacuk
Member
I can hardly believe all games for iOS are AAA material.
wondermega
Member
well I was exaggerating, there is more than just steam but it's pretty tough overall. Minecraft was certainly an anamoly, I don't think anyone would argue, though it's easy to see why it was very successful in hindsight.
There is definitely a lot of dissension in the rank about the validity of Android as a marketplace, and with good reason (lots of people have flopped there - HARD) but from certain considerations it's absolutely a very viable alternative at the moment.
Like I said, I wanna stress that it is still very early considering all the options right now, and a lot of drastic changes have been happening (and will continue) as the market continues to evolve. I'm just saying that seeing something like this is a very good sign, as far as I (and other small-time indies who have a certain vision of how to operate) are concerned
Raspberry Pi doesn't come in a box and it doesn't come with a controller or remote. I'm not going to use a keyboard or cell phone to control the thing.
I think there's value in a package with standardized hardware and input methods. Apps would be made to work with them out of the box, for all users, with no messing around.
ihearthawthats
Banned
if it can do emulation, movies, music and web browsing decently enough... sure why not.
KillerTravis
Banned
I don't understand the "designed to be hacked" part. So it will have the same piracy problems of the Android Marketplace?
Buddha Beam
Banned
Imagine how a Swedish guy would sound getting a really awesome blow job for the first time in years.
That's how you pronounce it.
That's how you pronounce it.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
How is this in any way standardizing anything? It's just one of many androids and one of even more "homebrew" platforms. Unless you have reason to believe it's going to take hold of the world via some kind of amazing yet to be revealed feature or pure marketing prowess or any other reason that's not even hinted in what's currently known about it.
wondermega
Member
piracy is a huge issue which is never going to go away. However, there's still a strong enough base of people willing to simply pay for stuff/not bother with piracy that it can be worthwhile.
The other end of it (which makes most people shrug angrily) is that a lot of casual games are trending towards freemium/etc which can still be quite lucrative.
This box may not appeal to your typical gaffer, but to the casual wii crowd it might be a no-brainer.
As it stands, Pi doesn't run XBMC particularly well yet.
Reading how this box is mader with hacking in mind, I'm thinking
it probably has an Allwinner a10(cortex a8) soc with mali400 as gpu,
since the a10 is very hackable and documentated/opensource.
Theres already a handful of boxes with that combination for sale.
I was comparing it to the Raspberry Pi, which is just a tiny Linux PC. You could connect a controller to a Pi, but nothing on it would be set up to work with it, forcing you to spend time configuring everything to work your particular controller. This is where this console could offer something better.
And I wouldn't care if it got popular or not as long as it's a solid piece of equipment.
DiscoJer
Member
But you know, Android (and iOS, too) has those game genres. It's not like Angry Birds is the only Android/iOS game in existence.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
But if it doesn't get popular then it definitely won't be standardizing anything and thus won't be getting the countless apps that work 100% with its particular setup out of the box that you want to see contrary to what Pi and other suggestions offer.
Then just say that to begin with instead of make points about standardizing. With that way of thinking then almost every device out there that has things that work with it standardized something so it goes without saying this would too.
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
Didn't stop gaikai.
Doomed unless magic. The basic description makes it sound like an Android device you connect to your TV, and we already have those. They're called tablets, smart phones, and the soon to be released Nexus Q. Android applications have weak controller support and most are built to make use of the touch screen. The only way this is interesting at all is if they streamline the emulators and controller set up process which is currently to unwieldy for most users.
And if you're going after a user base that wants to play older games, they already have means to do that on their computers or current consoles. If this is going head to head with current consoles and not falling back on some unique niche tool (like emulator focused), it is going to get crushed. The casual market has burst with the Wii and smartphone gaming already and it will have a very difficult task overthrowing Sony or Microsoft with their established devices and software library.
At best I can see this finding as much success as emulator dedicated portable console knock offs dug up from shady websites or stores in Hong Kong.
And if you're going after a user base that wants to play older games, they already have means to do that on their computers or current consoles. If this is going head to head with current consoles and not falling back on some unique niche tool (like emulator focused), it is going to get crushed. The casual market has burst with the Wii and smartphone gaming already and it will have a very difficult task overthrowing Sony or Microsoft with their established devices and software library.
At best I can see this finding as much success as emulator dedicated portable console knock offs dug up from shady websites or stores in Hong Kong.
I'm only speaking for myself here, and I'm not in need of countless of apps. For me, it'd only have to be popular enough in homebrew circles to see ports of emulators and XBMC.
MrCunningham
Member
Kool-Aid Man pack in game, or no buy.
ChoklitReign
Member
Richard Stallman's dream console?
Use your PC.
When was your phone made? Most have HDMI out in some capacity, though you still need to use touch controls or use a mouse.
DidntKnowJack
Member
Nothing ever comes of these things. More Vaporware.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Why would you buy a $99 android platform to play indie games? If you own a computer at all in your home, you can play indie games.
I don't think they are even trying to compete with them.
I would hope not.
iOS devices aren't positioned as game consoles.
Riposte
Member
Indie games which are dependent on "AAA" general use products like smart phone and PC or dependent on consoles which have "AAA" games which get people to buy them in the first place.
Also "flourish" is of course relatively speaking.
MrCunningham
Member
Indeed. This would be more of a niche market hobbyist game console, If anything.
I've seen these types of console ideas proposed in the past. They are great in theory, but with so many other gaming markets out there. It's hard to build support and momentum to get such an idea off the ground.
MatthewB92
Member
This is going to end up like that handheld that was announced on some mtv show.
Fixed.
Seriously, though, this thing will mostly end up fun for hobbyists and confused mall moms.
Iacobellis
Junior Member
Is this a new G4 Cube? Get ready, the plastic is gonna crack.
It needs features like this to be remotely successful. One thing I'm curious about besides this is whether or not it can successfully support a lot of the roms that are broken or significantly broken on emulators and what deals are they making with publishers and console makers so we have their blessing to play these roms (probably for a modest fee)
Schobeleth
Member
What is your avatar from?
Also, interesting. I doubt we'll see this come to fruition. Free to play and dollar apps are only successful because they're part of the package that comes with your phones, whether they're iOS or Droid. People need phones, so the app store or marketplace are already there. See the problem?
This is a separate dedicated home gaming console that will be based around the Droid platform and marketplace? I dunno if there is even a market for this sort of thing. The home console is successful because it gives you an experience you can't really get anywhere else, thus people go out and get it. It's a separate model from the app store stuff.
What is your avatar from?
Also, interesting. I doubt we'll see this come to fruition. Free to play and dollar apps are only successful because they're part of the package that comes with your phones, whether they're iOS or Droid. People need phones, so the app store or marketplace are already there. See the problem?
This is a separate dedicated home gaming console that will be based around the Droid platform and marketplace? I dunno if there is even a market for this sort of thing. The home console is successful because it gives you an experience you can't really get anywhere else, thus people go out and get it. It's a separate model from the app store stuff.
Well, to be fair, people may need phones, but they don't need smart phones. Those are a luxury/toy.
Schobeleth
Member
True but I've seen a LOT of people with smart phones now versus non-smart phones. I guess most of the company I keep is made up of technophiles so of course they would have smart phones but still, a lot of people I see have smart phones.
Oh man I totally forgot about THE JUNGLE. What a cockup
Diddy Kong
Banned
Can it run UE4?
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
Don't underestimate F2P, it's going to take us by storm. And it is more accessible to people.
I am down for this console, hopefully it can hook-up to Android tablets and stream things like the Google Q, but cheaper.
Yum
Neuromancer
Member
Ooh yah (rhymes with booyah)
So you don't mind a world without fully 3D Zeldas?